A Gambling Control Bill was approved in principle in 2013 after years of promises but it has made minimal progress since.

In its absence, casinos are self-regulated, online betting operations have exploded, underage betting at bookmakers and the tote is left to the industry to police, operators have no legal responsibility to report financial transactions that might indicate theft, money laundering or event fixing, and gaming arcades are operating under 60-year-old laws.

The Gaming and Leisure Association of Ireland (GALA), which represents casinos, and the Irish Bookmakers Association, which speaks for 700 betting shops, have both urged regulation.

While recognising it may impose some restrictions on them, they say it will also streamline the archaic licencing procedures, clear out unscrupulous operators and pave the way for new investment in the industry.

By Caroline Browne, Partner. A new Bill to regularise Casinos and gambling establishments in Ireland should issue shortly. The Cabinet, on the 9 th July 2013, agreed to the general scheme of the Gambling Control Bill 2013 which should be published by the end of this week or next week. The avoidance of circumstances where gambling could, inadvertently or otherwise, facilitate or enable criminal or illegal activity, consumer choice and protection. (Gambling Control Bill 2013) I expect the gambling sector to commit itself in a meaningful way to the concept and practice of socially responsible gambling – Shatter said. Shatter rules out Two-Mile Borris casino proposal Updated / Monday, 15 Jul 2013 23:00 The bill will limit the number of casinos in the country to a maximum of 40 Minister for Justice Alan Shatter.

The Gambling Control Bill was floored in Dail Eireann back in 2013 and is yet to become a law. This bill is being perceived as a critical part of country’s gambling legislation, expected to. On 15 July 2013, the government published the heads of the Gambling Control Bill 2013 (the Scheme), which, if enacted, would have modernised Ireland's legislative framework for all types of online.

“Everyone wants regulation — us and the health professionals who deal with problem gambling. We may want it for different reasons but we all want it,” said David Hickson of GALA.

He said he also believed the Government was in favour of regulation too which was why actions by Junior Justice Minister David Stanton, were all the more confusing.

Last month, Mr Stanton told the Dail that while work was getting under way on the Gambling Control Bill, he was considering establishing a regulator in “shadow form” but he has had no discussions with the industry about it and has refused to explain what he has in mind.

And in July he approved work to begin on drafting legislation to make 23 amendments to the outdated 1956 legislation which touch on some of the issues the Gambling Control Bill is meant to address.

Those amendments are in a wide-ranging new bill called the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill which has now been sent to the Attorney General for scrutiny and drafting of the wording.

A public consultation on the amendments is ongoing which David Hickson says is pointless. “We’d be saying, don’t waste resources on this because they’re going to use the amendments as an excuse not to proceed with the Gambling Control Bill. I would be very concerned about it.”

Sharon Byrne of the Irish Bookmakers Association said they had not been consulted on a shadow regulator and she was concerned legislation was taking so long.

“My biggest reason for wanting to have the Gambling Control Bill introduced is to have customer protections across the entire gambling sector.

“We have the ‘Think 21’ campaign to cut out underage betting and currently, we are the only ones paying for the services of the charity that runs helplines and face-to-face counselling for people with gambling problems and their families. That responsibility should be shared by the whole sector and the bill would see to that.”

A minister’s spokesman said: “A review of the General Scheme of the Gambling Control Bill, published in 2013, is continuing in the Department of Justice. A number of issues are being considered as part of this review.” He said work to progress the text of the bill was under way.

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The Gambling Control Bill was approved by Government in July 2013. This Bill will, upon enactment, repeal all extant gaming and betting legislation, with the exception of that governing the National Lottery.

The General Scheme of the Bill is with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel to the Government (OPC) awaiting drafting.

Betting Act 1931

The Betting (Amendment) Act 2015 was commenced on 15th April 2015. This legislation amends the Betting Act 1931 and provides for the licensing of remote (on-line) bookmakers and betting intermediaries for the first time.

Applications for certificates of personal fitness from remote operators, and terrestrial bookmakers not ordinarily resident in the State, are to be made to the Minister for Justice, following the placement of an advertisement in two daily, national newspapers. The advertisement and the application form are to be in a specified format. You can access these at the link below:

Terrestrial out of State Operators

Remote Operators

Applications for certificates of personal fitness from terrestrial bookmakers ordinarily resident in the State are to be made to a Superintendent of An Garda Síochána. The newspaper advertisement and application form for such operators can be accessed at the following link

Terrestrial Irish Operators

The application form in all instances details the information that is to be submitted in support of an application. It should be noted that an application will not be considered until such time as all such information has been received.

'relevant officer' of a corporate body is defined in section 1 of the 1931 Act as amended by section 2 of the 2015 Act. The first category of person who must apply for a certificate of personal fitness is he or she who exercises control (within the meaning of section 11 or 432 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997) in relation to the corporate body. In addition to such persons, corporate bodies may choose that an individual in either the second or third category of person as defined in section 1 applies for a certificate of personal fitness. The legislation does not require all three categories of person to be deemed a 'relevant officer'.

Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956

Gambling Control Bill 2013 Ireland 2019

The Gaming and Lotteries Acts 1956–2003 allow some limited forms of gambling. This is in order to provide a controlled outlet for people who wish to gamble. It also provides a method of fund-raising for charitable, philanthropic and other socially desirable purposes.

The forms of gambling permitted under the 1956 Act are:

• Lotteries (excluding lotteries covered by the National Lottery Act 2013, which is under the auspices of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform)
• A very limited form of gaming ('gaming' means playing a game (either of skill or chance) for money.)

For more information on gaming and lotteries, see the Review of the Gaming and Lotteries Acts 1956-86 A copy of the 1956 Act is included in the review document.

The Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Act 2019, will come into effect on 1 December 2020. Information Notes for Gaming and Lotteries are available here: Information Notes for Gaming and Lotteries

Information notes for relevant licences and permits can be found here: Information Notes for Gaming and Lotteries

Previous examinations of Ireland’s gambling laws

Casino Regulation Committee

The Casino Regulation Committee was set up in August 2006 and its report was published in July 2008 under the title Regulating Gaming In Ireland (PDF - 2.11MB)

Review of Gambling

Gambling Control Bill 2013 Ireland Bank Holidays

A paper entitled Options for Regulating Gambling published in December, 2010, represented the culmination of a public consultation undertaken by the Department as part of an overall review of gambling in Ireland.

Gambling Control Bill 2013 Ireland Genealogy

Charitable Lotteries Fund

The scheme has now ceased to operate.